Barney is a 5 year old Golden Retriever with excellent hearing. I mention this because his owners would swear on a stack of Bibles that their dog is profoundly deaf. Whenever they call him by name, Barney doesn’t even look up.
“I feel like an idiot” says his owner. “I call and call and he just stands there with his back to me. I KNOW he can hear me. I’m beginning to think he doesn’t know his name. Could that happen? Could he have forgotten his name?”
No. Barney knows his name. Let’s see if we can learn anything about what Barney is thinking by reading those little cartoon bubbles that hover over his head:
“Is she calling me again? She probably has to leave the house, which means I go in my crate. Not thrilled about that prospect, so I’m not gonna come.”
“Nothing doing, lady. I’m too busy to right now. This bush smells like the Wheaten Terrier down the street peed on it. I must examine this in detail to confirm my suspicions.”
“She just screamed my name, but hey, she screams “Barney” when I chew on her sandals, and she’s yells “Barney” when I leave hair on the furniture, and she hollers “Barney” when I bark at the cat. So let’s see – which is it this time?”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I hear her, but she talks at me constantly, so I’m just gonna tune her out. She always says “Come” at least 12 times anyway, so it can wait.”
No, Barney does’t need a hearing aid. Barney just needs to hear his name in the right context – when he is called to come. If Barney hears his name persistently yelled as if it is a correction, he WILL learn to ignore it.
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